MEGAFAUNA - cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ (Premiere)

Written by: The Administrator

When presented with a new release from British Columbia's MEGAFAUNA, there are few guarantees. Sonically, thematically, emotionally, a whole lot is variable by design. A true sense of experimentation permeates the project, and beyond aesthetic clues surrounding the visuals, you're never entirely sure what you're going to get. However! If there is one unifying factor of every MEGAFAUNA release, it is the immutable and established fact that I love them all very much. There's a standard of high quality maintained across the discography, whether it lurks within the dread and anxiety of Venator, or the layered and dynamic I Owe This Land a Body, or the haunted funhouse dance party vibe of the "Ghoulish Haunt" single, or the slowburningly ominous Nosferatu soundtrack. I could go on. In any case, I walk away from a listening session feeling like the music has made made a genuine impact on an emotional level.

In short, MEGAFAUNA has been doing intriguing things since inception, and I have very much enjoyed the project's eclectic output. And, needless to say, I'm always ready and excited to check out new stuff from the MEGAFAUNA camp when the opportunity arises.

​This heavily redacted latest EP, the four track cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ, will be officially released tomorrow, April 20th. We're pleased to premiere it here a day early for your listening pleasure and/or discomfort. Give it a listen below, and, as always, we'll meet you on the other side! 

---

​Once it fires up, cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ thrums and hums with an energy that feels paradoxically both akin and antithetical to the sobering vocal samples that kicks it off. An intense energy permeates, and a propulsive momentum makes it hard to relax into the embrace of any given track. While the samples steer the narrative, the EP is very percussive and feels significantly less contemplative than previous entries in the oeuvre. It's restless by nature, charged and electric and and on edge. I would never in a million years describe MEGAFUNA as "unfazed," but this latest evolution is arguably the most fazed the project has ever sounded. But to be fair, I have been assured that █████Every██ ████thing Is██ ██████ ████ Fine█████, so take that with a grain of salt.

While I hesitate to call cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ "dance music" for reasons that will become clear pretty much as soon as you hit play, I do feel an urge to move. Anything to give these frayed nerves a sense of release. As with my favorite tracks from I Owe This Land a Body, the tension is palpable in a very physical sense. I can feel the build in my bones, my skin, my teeth.

Nothing is left to sit, and violent escalation is almost inevitable. Take as an example "Panopticon." The track settles into some uneasy yet comparatively calm waters after a series of vocal samples describing the titular panopticon, before it unexpectedly explodes in a wall of increasingly noisy static. There's a disturbingly human quality to this sonic eruption--like the Annihilation bear that roars in human screams, it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. This uneasy notion that the music is both organic and electronic is consistent across the project.

While every track shines, my favorite of the bunch is likely the high-energy (and very pronounceable) ████████. I was immediately reminded--fondly--of the industrial yet profoundly human chaos that William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes bring to clipping. The yelps of "we're all going to die," dripping with digital detritus, sit uncomfortably between ecstasy and fear, especially when juxtaposed alongside the throbbing beat. But lest you think this is unapproachable...well, no actually, it kind of is. Y'know, by design. But that drop around 1:48 simply goes hard as absolute fuck, and if you like music that is chaotic and bold and maximalist and expressive, I can't recommend ████████ enough. Not to say that this track needs vocals--far from it, in fact--but I can absolutely imagine a few industrial/experimental rappers hopping on this production. The same is true for closing track "Scorched Earth." In the same way I previously imagined MEGAFAUNA soundtracking video games, I feel like this particular sonic direction has legs.

There's a lot going on here. Every moment is expressive and immediate in a profoundly restless fashion. This EP is caffeinated and high-strung, and frequently would cross the line into "fun" territory if it wasn't so notably uncomfortable. cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ makes me want to dance, but it simultaneously makes me feel perceived. How appropriately panopticonical.

Anways. If that sounds enjoyable, I ██████ ████████ giving cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ ████████ and perhaps even ████████████████

MEGAFAUNA - cnʁʁԍuϝ λԍɑʁ ɑʁმnwԍuϝ will be released April 20th, 2025. Find (and buy!) it on Ampwall and/or Bandcamp.

---

MEGAFAUNA can be found at The Marsh
Cover art and all visuals by MEGAFAUNA